Dear Claire Bidwell Smith
dear claire,
I am still buzzing from the weekend. The four of you arrived on Friday and we slipped into a casual night of sushi and conversation. Isn't it just amazing how the girls clicked so quickly, how there was an instantaneous love affair and tutu explosion? I'm so glad your gorgeous memoir was nominated for a Books for a Better Life Award and that you stayed here with us. You and I got a chance to talk about life and writing and what it is we both want. Our kids got a chance to goof around.
And Sunday? The Happier Hour brunch was just incredible. Mother Nature cooked up a glorious almost-Spring day and the walls of my living room were extra yellow. It was a different feel than my other events because it was more your people than my people though I was happy to have a few wonderful and familiar faces. There were so many writers and bloggers and people from this crazy creative world with which you and I are both so smitten.
What a treat to meet blogger/author Kelle Hampton (Bloom) and her three-week-old son Dash and Jessica Shyba of Mama's Gone City. What a treat to meet Becky Aikman (Saturday Night Widows) and Christina Haag (Come to the Edge) and Tre Miller Rodriguez (Splitting the Difference) and Kristine Gasbarre (How to Love an American Man) What a treat to meet Mary Elizabeth Williams (Salon), Jessica Rotundi (Huffington Post), your fabulous Rules of Inheritance team and so many of your wonderful friends and fans from over the years. What made the day so beautiful was your words. You spoke so openly and thoughtfully about your life and your book and the belief you have in women and the abiding power we have to support each other.
We live on different coasts and we lead different lives, but we have so many things in common. We have lost parents. We are raising little girls. We are writing stories. We are doing our best to be good moms and wives and authors and people. We are hungry and eager and inspired. We believe in connecting people and being connected. We want to do big things.
This is just the beginning, my friend. You know that. I know that. How cool, right? Hope you finally made it home in the messy rain with your man and your girls. Thank you, again and again, for being here and for being you.
xoxo, ADR
